The Hour of the Wolf
by everfaithful
Summary: Its been several months since Damon and Bonnie crossed over. Jeremy has lost himself in grief and the need for revenge, Stefan is doing no better. Alaric and Enzo are both grieving the loss of their friend, and Caroline is trying to hold everyone together by the force of her will alone. Elena has met a man near the falls that looks and sounds like Damon but is very much human.
1. Chapter 1

(AN:For those patiently waiting for other stories I am working on have no fear I will complete them too. Sometimes the plot bunnies are too demanding to ignore. I hope you enjoy this one too. Please review. Its like getting paid in chocolate and I am a chocoholic :) )

_"According to the ancient Romans, the Hour of the Wolf means the time between night and dawn, just before the light comes, and people believed it to be the time when demons had a heightened power and vitality, the hour when most people died and most children were born, and when nightmares came to one."_

_CHAPTER ONE_

Elena walked the road near the falls. She'd come here frequently since... well... since. This was where she'd first met Damon. Where she'd stood waiting for her parents to pick her up the night she'd broken up with Matt Donovan. It was a bittersweet feeling coming here. Some days she could almost feel Damon's presence, she could almost smell his cologne. Some days it left her feeling even more empty inside than ever before.

Stefan was drowning in grief as much as she was and it was hard to look at the pain she felt reflected in his eyes. It should bring them closer but it hadn't. Because of their past relationship, even though it was a traveler curse that had brought them together, taking comfort in each other left them feeling guilty. So much time both of them had wasted that could have been spent with Damon instead of fighting against him. She could only imagine that it was more so with Stefan as the curse had destroyed their relationship even as humans because of Katherine.

They still cared about each other. Still looked after each other. But it was hard to look at each other. Recently Elena had begun to sense a chill in his demeanor. The only one that seemed to be able to pull him out of his solitude was Caroline and even she had to struggle to get him to leave the house he'd bought in Delcrest to be near by the two of them as they attended Whitmore.

Alaric tried to help but she wasn't ready to let go was he. It was worse for him than it had been for Damon when Alaric had died. Damon had the hope that Ric was on the other side and still in a sense alive even if that wasn't the right word for it. He also hadn't had the guilt of being the last to make it through from the other side. She had the feeling he tried to help her as much because of that guilt as the fact that he still very much considered himself her guardian.

None of them knew Damon's fate. It was true that no one knew the fate of their loved ones when they died. But most people, even those that didn't believe in a forgiving loving god and a heaven that awaited those who believed, had some sort of home that they went to a good place or even that they simply ceased to exist.

But Elena knew what had been seen on the otherside. That there was a darkness that sucked people away into oblivion. Had he been pulled into oblivion? Had he gone on to find peace? Had he and Bonnie simply been destroyed when the other side crumbled? He'd sacrificed himself for those who had been on the other side. For Stefan... for Ric... for Luke and Enzo. It should counter the horrible things he'd done as a vampire... shouldn't it. He should be at peace. With Bonnie, with Jenna and her parents...well okay maybe not her father. She couldn't see that going well.

Elena stopped abruptly, pulled out of her thoughts abruptly by a pair of pale blue eyes. "Damon?" She asked almost breathlessly. Was she seeing things? It had happened before. More often than she had ever admitted to the others. She'd seen his face in the crowd, thought she'd heard his voice.

No this wasn't Damon. Was it? The young man paused his struggle to put the mountain bike on to the rack on the back of his car. "What? No." He smiled at her, an easy dazzling smile. "You have me confused with someone one else." No. Damon never smiled so easily. Her heart fluttered and sank to the pit of her stomach.

Another doppelganger? Was that possible? Or was this just a man who happened to look like Damon Salvatore. A man who happened to sound just like Damon Salvatore. "I'm Elena." She said stepping closer still. She could hear his heart beat and it dashed any hopes that it could be him. Still he looked so much like him. Was this what Damon had felt the first time he'd seen her? Hope cruelly choked out by the sound of a beating heart.

Right in this very spot.

He wiped his hands on his pants "I'm Jace." He said offering the left one to Elena. "You from the town?" He asked. "Kinda dead in there." He had driven through up to the bike trail. It had looked almost like a ghost town.

"I used to be." She said. "I'm a student at Whitmore College. There was a gas main scare a few months ago. Blew up one of the restaurants. People are just now starting to come back. It'll pick up again." Would Damon have been able to cross over if she hadn't died with him? Had that one extra person crossing over been too much? Was it her fault?

"Whitmore... that's why you look familiar." He said with a grin. The one that so rarely crossed Damon's face. The one that always melted her utterly when it did.

"You're a student at Whitmore?" She asked. How had she not seen him before? Or was that why she'd seen Damon and heard his voice. It had actually been Jace.

"Not really. I'm checking out their genealogy department. Its supposed to have one of the most comprehensive collections in the south."

"Personal research or historical?" Elena asked.

"Both actually." He said leaning against his car. "You want to go get a cup of coffee?" he said nodding down the road toward Mystic Falls.

"I would love to but I am actually running late." She could never cross the boundary lines of Mystic Falls again. Not unless she felt like a particularly painful suicide. " I can give you my number and maybe you can call me next time you're at Whitmore." There was that grin again. She wanted to pull him into her arms and hold him tight. He wasn't Damon. Still, she could pretend a little. Just a little. It was just coffee right?

He took out his cell phone and handed it to her. "I can do that."

Elena handed her phone to him in exchange and they entered their numbers, and handed them back. "So I'll talk to you soon then." She said, smiling, and for the first time in months it reached her eyes.

"I'm looking forward to it." Jace said.

Elena hurried back to the university and arranged for a coffee date after all, with Alaric. He'd gotten a teaching position at the college which was more suited to him than the high school had been. She thought he seemed more content with his job there than he had maybe that was because he wasn't a human trying to fight the darkness alone any longer.

She waved him over as he walked into the coffee shop. She pulled up a photo she'd taken earlier that day with her phone and pushed it over to him as he took his seat.

"I didn't think Damon was into cycling." Ric said looking at the picture a little sadly.

"I took that picture this morning." Elena told him, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Elena," He said gently. "this isn't Damon. I know it looks like him. But Damon is gone."

"He looks like Damon, sounds like Damon, smiles like Damon. Ringing any bells?"

Alaric frowned. "Another Doppelganger? That makes no sense." He said. "You and Stefan came about because of the immortality spell. There wasn't a third party involved then. Well, not a male third party anyway. If there had been I'm pretty sure he'd have been part of the traveler's spells."

"I don't know." Elena said. "It doesn't make sense to me either, but the fact is that there is a man that is Damon's double. And around here doubles are neck deep in danger whether they know it or not."

"okay." He said "But I don't know that you need to be the one to look into this."

"Who do you suggest? Stefan? He's more fragile than I am." Because he'd lost Lexi too. Because he blamed himself for coming through before Damon did. So many things resting heavily on Stefan's shoulders.

"There are more people than you and Stefan." Alaric said with a faint smile as their coffee was delivered.

"Jeremy is staying in Mystic Falls with Matt and Tyler, and I doubt they'd handle it subtly, Caroline has her hands full with Stefan and her class load, You are teaching full time now and Enzo would just turn him and make him into some clone of what he wanted Damon to be. That leaves me. Besides I'm the one he's asked out to coffee."

Ric sighed heavily. "When?"

"Next time he's at Whitmore he's going to call me."

He frowned. "What's this guy doing here?"

"He says he's checking out the genealogy library." She shrugged.

Another sigh. "Well, one thing we agree on is not involving Stefan in this." Alaric said, wishing his coffee was made of sterner stuff.

Stefan poured another glass of bourbon and sank into his least hated chair to drink it. New chairs, new town, new home... brand new shiny empty place inside where his brother had been. He had hated all of it, but it was only temporary. At least that's what he'd told himself and Caroline had been more than happy to enable that delusion. Now he was numb...

His brother was dead. Actually truly dead. Not watching from the other side, not waiting for a Hail Mary pass to save him. Damon was Dead and he wasn't coming back. He'd known that their plan was too crazy to go off without a hitch. He'd expected someone not to make it. He'd been hoping for Enzo to be honest, he'd been willing for it to be himself, but he'd never once thought it could be Damon. So here he sat in an uncomfortable chair drinking enough bourbon to make up for Damon not being there to do it himself.

He allowed himself a smile as Caroline entered the house. "Hey." he said quietly. "How's your mother doing?"

"She's okay. " Caroline said as she came to sit on the low slung table in front of her friend. "She's worried about you and Elena."

"I'm alright. Its nothing time won't take care of on its own." He'd grieved before. He'd grieve again. It was just going to take time. Another pointless mantra. "Elena has Alaric looking out for her. I'm more worried about Jeremy."

"Yeah well she's not taking Alaric with her when she goes walking by the falls every day." Caroline said. "She's looking for Damon but she won't admit it. She figures if he finds a way back he'll go where they first met."

Stefan sighed. "She'll pull it together. She's strong. Stronger than we give her credit for."

"I hope so." Caroline said. She sank into the one comfortable chair in the room. "Jeremy is doing alright. Matt and Tyler are keeping an eye on him. They say he can't find anyone on the other side. Its completely gone."

He nodded. "I think we'd have had more visits from an irate Damon if it were still there."

"He'd never blame you for living. He sacrificed himself so that you could live." Caroling told him emphatically. "He loved you. He wanted you to get through back to our side. "

"He had planned on coming back too." Stefan pointed out. "I was supposed to wait for him."

"And he was late because he and Ric were saving my mom. Should we blame her too?" Caroline said folding her arms across her chest. They'd had this argument so often that it was almost like a script now.

"Of course no one should blame your mom. Without her we'd have never gotten anyone back." Stefan said in near monotone. He was tired of the debate as well. "look, I am allowed to grieve. That's all this is. Me grieving. I'm not going to walk into the sunrise and take off my daylight ring. Its just going to take time. That's all."

"Fine. If that's all it is, then you can leave this house and come with me to the coffee house tonight." It wasn't him taking off his daylight ring that she worried about.

"I'm not sure the grieving process includes coffee dates." He said with a faint smile. A forced smile.

"Not specifically. But it doesn't say you can't go for killer coffee and escape your house and all the boxes of things from the boarding house that you have not dealt with yet." she said. "If you don't come to coffee with me I am going to start unpacking tonight. I'll start at that box right there and I won't stop until everything is sorted, cleaned and put away. Worse I'll call other people over to help."

"You win." He put his hands up in defeat. " Coffee it is. Although if you make that threat too often I'll take you up on it." He said teasing a little.

Caroline got up, took the bourbon glass from his hand and set it on the table before taking his hand to pull him up out of his chair. "I hate that chair." She said pulling him toward the door before he could change his mind.

"So do I." He said opening the front door for her.

"Then why do you keep it?"

He shrugged."It came with the house."

Alaric left the coffee shop and hit the freeway. It had taken him several months to locate the woman. She'd once been a regular visitor to his home. The home he'd shared with Isobel in North Carolina. At the time he'd thought that his wife was gullible and that the woman was delusional. He hoped now that he was wrong and that she was as capable as his wife had believed. He'd been relieved to find that the witch had relocated to Virginia.

He parked in front of the bar an hour later. It was more upscale than he frequented these days, nestled in ivy covered brown stones converted into antique stores, coffee shops and goth culture pretending to be esoterica. Or was it the other way around? The bar was down a flight of stairs into the basement level of just such a shop.

Claire was on the small stage, seated on a bar stool in front of a mic singing an old Harry Chapin love song about a schizophrenic man and the woman who loved him anyway. She'd been beautiful before he supposed but he had never really paid attention. Until Jenna he'd only ever had eyes for his wife. Now that he looked at her he could appreciate the delicate lines of her face, almost elfin, with dark eyes that rivaled Elena's in their depth.

Her hair had been dark, almost black when he'd first met her. Now it was a paler shade of brown, hanging around her shoulders instead of short cut and spiked. But it was definitely her, older, more subdued, but he was certain now that she was exactly the person he was looking for.

He approached the stage as she set the guitar aside. "Its been a long time." He said looking up at her.

"I was sorry to hear about Isobel." She said letting him help her down from the stage. "Was she the one that turned you?" She whispered as he set her on the floor.

"No." Ric said, surprised that she could tell so easily. "Long story."

"And I'm betting not the one that you're here to tell me."

"That obvious an I?" He asked.

"Vampires only come looking for Witches when they want something. Given what's been going on over in your neck of the woods, I figure you must want something pretty big."

"Guilty as charged. But right now I'd just like to pick your brain." Ric told her. Elena had put some very disturbing questions in his head that he didn't know how to find the answers to.

Claire nodded. "okay. Lets head up to my place where we don't have to worry about other peoples ears. Or the act that's following me." She rolled her eyes and led the way to the back of the building where they took the service elevator to the top floor.

She stepped through into her home and looked at the vampire. "You may come in. But if you ever walk into my home without my permission I will turn your brain into Swiss cheese and serve it at my next dinner party. You hear me?"

Ric smiled. "I hear you." He said and followed her into to a large loft. Her home took up the expanse of the brown stone. It was a completely open floor plan. The only doors in the place he assumed were for closets and the bathroom.

She shed her 4 inch heels and tossed them into a corner. She made her way around the place in stocking feet. He thought she looked even more elfin, standing no more than 5' tall. "So what's your poison these days?"

"Bourbon." He said as he followed, feeling awkward and somewhat hulking compared to her diminutive form.

"Gone native have you." She said laughing a little.

"Something like that." He said.

"Take a load off." She indicated the sofa positioned to catch both the view from the floor to ceiling windows and the fireplace. She grabbed the bottle from behind the bar and two glasses. Claire sat down and put them on the table, letting Ric do the pouring. "So what is it you want to know?" She asked, and curled up comfortably in the corner of the sofa.

"What can you tell me about Doppelgangers. Not the Petrova set or Silas, but anything independent of that. "

"What? You don't have enough of them on your hands?" She asked.

"Okay, how is it you know whats going on in my life?" He asked, brow furrowed and a frown beginning to form.

"Which question do you want answered first?"

"The second one. You're giving me the creeps."

Claire laughed. "Isobel came to see me a few years ago. It wasn't the best of meetings. She wanted my help and seemed to forget that not all witches are going to jump up and down for the opportunity to serve a vampire completely." She shrugged. "Anyway she told me about her daughter and that she was a Petrova. Where there are Petrova's there is always the other one eventually."

"And she mentioned that I was teaching in Mystic Falls." He said.

"Correct. She wanted my help in dealing with her maker to keep him out of her hair. I refused."

"I'm just as glad you did. Her maker, Damon Salvatore, ended up being my best friend. Talk about backwards right?" He said sadly.

"So was he the one that turned you?"

Alaric chuckled. "I wasn't so much turned as made." He admitted.

She raised an eyebrow. "That takes a powerful witch."

"Yes it did. She wanted an original to wipe out the originals she made the first time around."

"Since there are still vampires in the world I can only assume that you did not succeed."

"Long story but no. I didn't succeed." He handed her one of the glasses of bourbon.

"Good thing. I have friends in the fanged crowd." she said, and took a sip.

"Serve many of their brains at dinner parties?" He asked with a grin.

"One or two."

"It worries me that I believe you." he said with a nervous laugh.

"It should." She told him "Okay... Doppelgangers. The kind you've been dealing with are rare. Mother nature rarely decides to make duplicates of people that break her rules."

"That much is reassuring." He said. "I always found that idea kinda stupid to be have an abomination... lets make more of them." He rolled his eyes.

"There are those that are more fae than anything else. A literal translation of the German word. A double Walker. Usually that kind are just a harbinger of doom for the person they look like. A less noisy banshee."

"If that's what this guy is he's a little too late."

"Sometimes they're demonic in nature, but usually only the double of the very good.. hell's attempt to discredit those who could in theory become saints." She said and watched a sad little amused smile cross Alaric's face. "Sometimes though, most often, especially if dealing with vampires or witches that age really well... its a descendant. People pass on their dna and occasionally the genes just land right to produce someone that looks enough like an ancestor to be their doppelganger, but they really aren't."

"And the likelihood of a doppelganger of the magical variety being born into a family with another doppelganger with different … reasons to exist..."

"Is about as likely as winning the powerball every week for the rest of your life." Claire said. "So now that you have picked my brain, why don't you tell me what is going on and why you really looked me up. You could have found all of this out for yourself. You're a history teacher. You know how to do research."

"Damon died. He didn't make it back through before the other side imploded. We don't know where he ended up ultimately. But his girlfriend spotted someone that looks just like him, sounds just like him this morning. I was hoping that it wasn't another doppelganger situation."

"it probably isn't." She said firmly. "You don't have anything to worry about in that regard. Sure lightning can strike the same place twice. But this kind of lightning … no."

Ric nodded. "So... " He took a deep breath, and downed the rest of his drink. "What do you know about the resurrection of the dead?"

"Since the other side is closed for business... nothing that I'd be willing to do." She said "It's messy, it's black magic and it requires a life for a life."

"What if someone was willing to give up their life for his?"

"Its still black magic, Ric. That sort of crap taints your soul forever. It wouldn't just taint the people casting the spell, it would taint the soul it brings back as well. You would get Damon back, but he wouldn't be the man you remembered."

"But that means its possible. That there could be a non black magic way out there to do it." He said. "I've got all the time in the world to find it. Its not like he's going anywhere either."

"You care about him a great deal." She said.

"He's my best friend."

"Find a new one. Don't take this the wrong way but you can't spend your life focused on bringing back the dead."

"I'm a vampire. We tend to obsess."

She laughed a little. "Find a new focus. Heal. Let him go and hopefully be at peace."

Ric sighed. "It's what I keep telling Elena. I've never been good at taking my own advice. " His life had been a mess since Isobel had disappeared. He'd freely admitted that.

"You're not. You're taking my advice. I've always liked you Alaric. Don't screw that up by becoming an out of control grieving vampire. Or worse an emotionless one."

"I won't do that." He assured her. "I have people I'm responsible for. People that depend on me. Besides, if I let Elena down Damon would come back on his own and figure out how to kill me himself." he grinned a little.

They talked. They talked about Isobel, being a vampire, being on the other side, being a witch in the 21st century. They avoided talking about Damon. It was good not to talk about him. He felt a little guilty about that. Claire didn't.

She poured more bourbon and kept the conversation on the living. She kept it focused on Alaric and his adjustment to being back in the land of the living luring him into conversations about hopes and dreams and disappointments.

He left in the early hours of the morning feeling lighter, in spite of the guilt. He promised to come back, and she promised not to turn his brain into Swiss cheese on a whim. He thought it had gone well. After the initial disappointment of having not found a way to save his friend after all.

He groaned as he reached his car. "I'm not giving you a ride back to Whitmore." He told Enzo, with a scowl. Something about this guy set his teeth on edge. "I'd think you'd want to be as far from that place as possible all things considered."

"What? Not looking for a new drinking buddy? Or maybe you've found one in the pretty little witch upstairs."

Alaric moved the other vampire aside and unlocked his car. "What do you want, Enzo. I'm not in the mood for games tonight. I have a lecture to give in the morning."

Enzo moved around to the passengers side. "Good that means you'll skip giving me one tonight. You may as well unlock it." He said gripping the door handle. "If you don't I'll just break the window and get in anyway. "

"You do know I can kill you, right?" He said but went ahead and unlocked the door.

"Vampire hunter turned vampire." Enzo said. "That has to suck."

"Puns are the weakest form of humor." He said as he started the car. "Especially that one."

"I thought it was sarcasm." Enzo said.


	2. Chapter 2

Elena was trying to pay attention in class, she truly was. Falling behind would affect the rest of the quarter and this wasn't high school anymore. She was already on administrative probation for her failed attempts the year before (thank you Katherine) and she couldn't afford to fail any of her classes.

The problem was that it was impossible to concentrate on anything anymore. Ric had suggested taking a year off. Caroline said she needed to stay busy and should just focus on her classes and getting through another day. Jeremy wasn't saying much of anything on that or any other subject. They were both floundering and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Least of all each other.

Her phone gave a brief buzz in her pocket and she pulled it out to read the text she'd just received. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the name Jace on the screen.

**Hey its me. You have time today for that coffee date?**

Elena smiled nervously as she typed out **After this class I'm free. Say 4:00?**

She set the phone in her lap and went back to taking notes, although her attention was more on the gadget than her professor. She smiled when it vibrated once more.

**Sure. How about Fallon's? Do you know where that is?**

**Over by the hospital right? Sure I'll be there.** She texted back.

**see you then. I'm looking forward to it.**

She shook her head at the curious look from Caroline. She turned her phone off and put it back in her bag, attempting once more to focus on her class. She slipped out quickly once the lecture was done, dodging her best friend on the way to the coffee shop.

It was definitely not a college hang out, she decided as she glanced at the menu board as she walked in. She spotted Jace and smiled. Just the sight of him soothed the loss just a little. He wasn't Damon. Would never be Damon but for now she was okay with that.

He smiled back and walked over to her. "Hey. " He said a little shyly.

Definitely not Damon. The love of her life didn't have a shy bone in his body. "Hey." She said in return. They got into line to place their orders. "So how did you find this place?" She asked.

"Errands on this side of town." He said with a shrug. "I'm a bit of a health food nut," The last word was forced."So it seemed a good compromise for where to meet."

Again so not Damon. Still it felt good to stand close to him. The body heat he radiated was a constant reminder that his heart was beating. That made it safe, right? "I don't mind. I should have guessed when you were out biking and stuff. "

He smiled a little sadly "Yeah, probably the last time I'm going to be doing that for a while. Life gets crazy sometimes." He said. "Great trails up by the falls though."

"it must be crazy. You look tired." She said.

"Yeah, I pulled an all-nighter last night and haven't been to bed yet."

It was a lie. She could tell. But she didn't say anything. People had the right to secrets and why he was tired was a minor one to keep really. "I thought only college students did that." Elena said as they reached the counter. She ordered her usual overly sweet highly caffeinated iced coffee. Jace ordered a small drink that came in a vile shade of green with orange undertones from the spinach and carrot juice. "You weren't kidding about health food." She said.

He paid for their drinks and laughed a little as they walked away. "No Dairy for me. And neither coffee or hot cocoa are worth it without the cream." He shrugged "you want to get out of here? There's a park not far from here."

"I'd love it." She said and let him lead the way. "So what are you researching at the Genealogy department?"

"Prominent civil war families." He said. "Cross referencing with Confederate officers and tracing their blood lines to modern times."

"Sounds complicated." She said. "Are you a history major or something?"

"I was." He said "I know it makes me sound like a horrible geek on top of being a health food nut. Its okay if you run for the hills. I wouldn't blame you."

"I happen to like geeks. " She said laughing as they found a patch of grass in the sun to sit in and watch the people in the distance. "My guardian... well he was my guardian back when I was underage... Sort of my step father... uncle oid... yeah... ahm Ric... is known to people around here as Professor Saltzman. The new history teacher."

He grinned again and her heart fluttered. "That's quite the description. I have a feeling there's a story there."

"Not a complicated one really." She lied. "I'm adopted and he's my birth mothers husband...well... widower I guess is the word for it. So ... step dad... who dated my adopted Aunt... and yeah I said not complicated didn't I. " They both laughed.

"So … what is it you're studying here at Whitmore?" he took a sip of his drink, obviously not fond of it.

"I don't know." She said honestly. "I haven't been able to decide. Just getting as many of my core classes out of the way as possible. My life has been a little crazy too. I think I'm here mostly to mark time. Wow, way to come off as pathetic." She said blushing a little.

"No, not pathetic. Trust me. I know pathetic and you're not it. Sad. Lonely. Not pathetic." Jace said.

"That obvious ?" She asked.

"Its in your eyes and mine work just fine." he said with a shrug. "So I intend to make you laugh as much as possible. It doesn't cure everything but its good to laugh anyway. The only way I know to tell fate to piss off is to laugh at it."

"I like that plan. But its only going to work if you laugh too." She said.

"I think I can arrange that." He said and took another small sip of his drink.

Caroline surveyed the house. They had gone through and unpacked almost all of the boxes in the house. It was nothing like the boarding house. It was just as old and the same mock tudor style but the layout was different, the color palette was different. The layout was very different. She liked it though. It suited Stefan. More important there weren't constant reminders of Damon everywhere. They'd left those things in the boxes with the intent of putting them in the attic for Elena when she got her own place one day after graduation. The raven painting, some of his books, knickknacks from different era's dating back to their mortal lives.

Zack's things they'd send back to the boarding house. Jeremy and the others could put them in the house and lock it up again. Stefan promised one day to sell it if they could never go home but he couldn't bring himself to do it just yet.

She looked over at the remaining pile of boxes marked Damon's Room. "Where do you want to put these?" She asked Stefan, studying his face, waiting for a sign that he was overwhelmed.

"There's a room at the end of the hall upstairs. We can put them there for now." Stefan said touching the label. His brothers name in Jeremy Gilbert's handwriting.

"You're giving Damon a room? Do you think that's a good idea?" She asked.

"I'm putting his things in a room I'm not using" Stefan said, swallowing hard.

"That's what the attic is for." She pointed out.

"I'm not going to make Elena climb into an attic to go through his things with me." Stefan said "Anything we don't want can go into the attic when we're done." Or not.

Caroline sighed and ran her hand along Stefan's arm. She wanted to tell him it would get easier but it wouldn't. Damon and Stefan had a complicated relationship. Hell everyone had a complicated relationship with Damon. But there had always been a Damon shaped place in Stefan's world. Whether it had been as his brother or his enemy or the idiot he was cleaning up after there had always been Damon. Now there wasn't. He was just gone. This was the first time that Stefan had really had to face that reality that most vampires faced. That moment when everyone from your mortal life is gone.

"I'm alright." He told her, smiling sadly.

"No you're not. "She said. "And if you were I'd be even more worried than I am right now."

He slid his arm around her to pull her close and kissed her forehead. "Damon was always going to go before me." Stefan said. "I've always known that he'd take on someone bigger than himself one day and not be able to pull off that last minute escape. Part of me has been preparing myself for this since he was commissioned into the confederate army. Part of me never wanted to accept it as a possibility."

"Its why you made him transition." Caroline said.

Stefan nodded. "I didn't want to face eternity without my brother." His shoulders sagged. "I still don't. I just don't have a choice this time."

She held him tightly. There were no words to make this right. Nothing she could say or do to take away the sorrow. All she could do was hold him in the face of it all.

He rested his chin on her head and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Thank you." He said eventually.

"For what?" She asked looking up.

"Being here."

Caroline reached up to wipe away the tell tale dampness on his cheek. "Where else would I be?"

Alaric settled onto a bar stool and sighed tiredly. Another day of lectures come and gone. He handed the bartender his credit card to start a tab for the night and ordered his usual.

"I'll have what he's having." Enzo said, and raised an eyebrow at the glare from Ric.

"That seats taken." He said and shook his head as Enzo moved to the other side "That one too."

"No need to be rude."

"I'm not looking for a drinking buddy. I'm not looking for a pal. " Alaric told him. "And I'm definitely not looking to help you work out your aggression. So go find somewhere else to drink." He nodded his thanks to the bartender. "Don't bother getting his drink." Ric compelled the man. "He's not here."

"Ouch." Enzo said "Definitely not feeling the love here."

Ric shrugged and lifted his glass to his lips.

"So tell me again how you and Damon became such close friends cause I'm not seeing it." Enzo sat down at the bar. He looked over at the next customer and compelled him to buy him a shot .

"I don't care if you see it or not." Alaric once more shrugged and motioned for his glass to be refilled.

"He was my friend too." Enzo said and took the shot glass from the bar and downed it.

"He was your cellmate." Ric said. "Not the same thing."

"You weren't there." Enzo said.

Ric turned to face him. "Why are you here? I'm obviously not the kind of vampire you normally hang with. "

Enzo scoffed. "You don't know me."

"And I don't want to either. I'm sorry but you're on your own."

"I don't know how to break it to you, Mate, but so are you." Enzo said. "you think Stefan or Elena give a damn about anything but their own pain right now?"

"Its part of the process." He said with a shrug. "And I like being on my own."

"No you don't." Enzo sat the shot glass back down on the bar and walked away.

Once the door had closed and Enzo was gone, "No... I don't." Alaric admitted to himself.

Jeremy walked through what had once been the Salvatore Boarding house and sighed. It was empty. Nothing but the bare bones furnishings. Strange to see it that way. His back still hurt from the lifting and packing of the place. It wasn't so much that Damon was gone that bothered him. He'd never liked the guy to begin with. He was a dick, but, his sister had loved him. This had been her home after theirs had been destroyed. Now none of them could ever come back to it. Not Damon, not Stefan and not his sister.

He checked all the rooms one last time before stepping outside and locking the doors behind him. That chapter of their lives was done. He'd promised Stefan he'd keep an eye on the place. But really all that meant was swinging by to make sure the windows weren't busted and that the lawn was mowed.

"You done?" Tyler asked brusquely. "Alright, lets go." He said patting the side of Matt.s truck and opening the door.

Jeremy rolled his eyes and climbed in, followed by Tyler. "I don't need babysitting guys."

"We're not babysitting you. We're babysitting Tyler so that he doesn't kill himself one night trying to drink like a vampire again," Matt said as he started the truck and drove down the road. It was eerie. People were starting to come back but it was slowly. A family here, a couple of families there. It was like driving through a ghost town.

"I'm not going to drink myself to death. I'm not the one that lost anything," Tyler pointed out.

"Just your fangs, your immortality..." Matt said.

"And the need to howl at the moon once a month, so not being a vampire is worth it since I'm not a werewolf either. "

"Which means one, we keep you away from any weirdness that goes on in Mystic Falls because if you kill someone even in self defense you're gonna wind up scratching fleas again." Jeremy said "And two, you need to start thinking about the future because you're gonna get old and die like the rest of us "

"Gee, Jeremy, don't sugar coat it or anything." Tyler scoffed.

"There isn't going to be any more weirdness in Mystic Falls." Matt said firmly. "No magic, no magic means no vampires,no werewolves, no witches."

"Doesn't mean no travelers. We killed a lot of them but not all of them. We don't even know if we got all of them in town. There could be some of them hiding out for all we know. And they can still use their powers here."

Tyler frowned. "If you're trying to keep me sober, this conversation isn't the way to go about it."

"What do you want to do?" Matt asked "Put up a sign that says no travelers allowed? I don't know what we can do about it. Only so many buildings we can blow up."

"I'll figure it out." Jeremy said with a frown. Just as he'd figure out a way to get Bonnie back. There had to be a way. When Bonnie had brought him back he hadn't been supernatural at that point. He'd just been a kid with a bullet hole in his chest. If he could come back, so could Bonnie. The travelers might know a way.

"In the mean time, lets go get something to eat. I think the Williams have reopened the diner. Its not the grill but I guess that's what we get for blowing the place up." Tyler said.

"Small price to pay." Matt said, with a frown. A very very small price for what they'd done. He'd do it again if he had to in order to save the people that he loved but they'd killed a lot of people. They'd almost killed Caroline's mom. Damon was dead because of that explosion. Yeah the guy was a dick but he'd kind of sometimes been a friend too. They cared about the same people anyway and that counted for something. It had been a small price to pay to lose the grill. Too small. He was waiting for Karma to bitch slap them all. When she did it was going to hurt like hell.

Elena Gilbert sat on her bed in her dorm room, a journal in her lap.

Dear Diary,

I had coffee with Jace today. For the first time in months I was able to focus on the here and now. I wasn't wondering if Damon was in heaven or hell, or how I was going to get him back. I wasn't struggling just to draw breath and fake my way through the next minute.

I know he's not Damon. I know he will never be Damon. I also know that I can never be anything more than just his friend. It would be insulting to both him and Damon's memory if I were to ever get involved with him. They both deserve better than that. But still, it was good to hear his voice. Even if it wasn't really his voice.

Stefan called today. He's finally gotten unpacked at the new house. I suspect Caroline is to blame. She's good for him. Funny thing is I don't think either of them realize they are in love yet. Now is not the time to point it out to either of them.

I like the house. Its nothing like the boarding house, but it still lives up to the Salvatore name. As broken as Stefan is over his brother's death it's just as well that we can't ever go home. The new house is beautiful and I could easily see Damon walking the halls covered in bubble bath suds. But his memory doesn't haunt the house. You can turn a corner without expecting to see him standing there. Which is good for Stefan. He'd have gone mad in Mystic Falls.

He's got Damon's things ready to be gone through. I'm going to go over after my last class tomorrow to go through them with him. I've asked Alaric to come too. He was Damon's friend. His only real friend in a long time. He deserves the chance to say good bye, to have something other than empty bourbon bottles to remember him by.

The only thing I have to figure out is whether or not to tell Stefan about Jace. I don't think he'd handle it well, but I don't want them running into each other on the street either. That would be horrible for him.

Stefan raised an eyebrow at the book Caroline presented to him. He wanted to tell her to take it back, but she looked so pleased with herself he couldn't. "you know I burned all my old journals." he said instead.

"I know," She said. "New home, new life... new journal. Elena says it helps her to write things down. I know you used to love writing in yours, I thought it might help you too."

"Thank you." He told her. "I'll give it a shot."

She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. "I have to go. Tomorrow is my early class. I'll come by when I'm done."

Stefan nodded. "Elena and Ric are coming over to go through Damon's things. I could definitely use you there. Otherwise we'll keep everything." He tried for a smile but it didn't quite work.

"Thats okay too. So long as you're not keeping it for Damon to come back to. " Caroline said.

"I know. " he said and laughed a little as Caroline handed him a pen.

"Get to writing." She said and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He watched her go, and sighed when the door closed behind her. He opened to the first blank page.

September 24, 2014

Today I am finally settled in my new house. I can't quite call it a home. It doesn't have that feel yet. I don't know that anywhere will for quite some time. But its all unpacked, thanks to Caroline, so now its not just a simple matter of putting the boxes in storage and paying the bill if I want to leave. Now its a production. I think she knew that though. I think that's why she started unpacking.

I'm trying to keep up appearances. I don't want anyone to know that I'm searching for ways to bring them back. We all agreed that there was no way to do it since we don't know where they are now. If I was certain that he was in heaven or at peace I could let it go. But its entirely to easy to imagine my brother in Reverend Fell's version of hell and I cannot leave him there. Not without trying.

I haven't seen much of Elena. Neither of us is comfortable with our shared grief. It should bring us together but I think its pushing us apart. Too many shared memories that are too hard to face. Too many times we'd caused him pain or pushed him away. Its funny how someone you love practically becomes a saint after they die. I remember making entries in another journal about how he was a monster and there was no redeeming quality in him. Even though I had every reason to feel that way, even though I was justified at the time, I am shamed by the memory of it.

I don't know how to actually live my life now that he's gone. I'll manage. It will sort itself out eventually. I didn't know how I was going to live without Elena, or how I was going to make my way through eternity as a vampire and I have managed both. I'll manage life without Damon as well. I'm just going to do everything in my power to make sure I don't actually have to. With luck they'll forgive me one day.

He reread what he'd written with a critical eye, knowing that someone (Caroline) would be snooping through it soon enough. The problem with being truthful in a diary was that all the ugliness was there for anyone to see. He'd learned that lesson. He didn't need to learn it again. Satisfied that the entry set the right tone he closed the book and left it on the table.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

They started by opening the boxes and of course things had to have somewhere to go so they put them away. On shelves and in drawers. At first just haphazardly. But then an order started to grow out of the chaos and the room began to take form. Even Caroline was party to it. By the time they were done the boxes were empty and broken down out in the hallway, none of them conscious of having taken that step to make the unpacking permanent.

Stefan looked around the room and smiled faintly. This was Damon's room. He wasn't here but it was his room, with his things and his presence was keenly felt. Both he and Alaric watched Elena as she walked around the room, running her hands lovingly over his brother's possessions.

Her fingers slid into one of the drawers and pulled a tee shirt from its depths. She brought it to her face and breathed in slowly.

Alaric moved in quickly, catching her as her knees gave way and the tears began. He sank down with her, just holding her close as she clung to the shirt, breathing in his scent.

Stefan took a step forward but thought better of joining them in the center of the room. He looked over his shoulder, feeling Caroline's delicate hand at his back.

"It's gonna be alright." Alaric said gently. He'd make sure of it one way or another. He'd find a way.

"I know" Elena said, though the sobs. She took deep breaths to slow them down. "I thought I was further along than this."

"It doesn't work that way." Ric told her. "One day you'll be fine and the next every little thing is going to remind you of him and it'll be like losing him all over again. But those days will eventually come less often."

"What if I don't want them to? What if I don't want to ever be okay with the fact that he's gone?" Elena asked.

"Sounds like a miserable way to live." he told her. "And not one worth his sacrifice to make sure you had the chance to live at all. "

"He's gone. He doesn't get a say anymore. He promised to come back and he didn't."

"I know. He wanted to. I was there. He wanted to come back to us. He didn't have a choice."

She eased out of his arms and got to her feet. "He'd be here if it weren't for Luke." Elena let the anger wash over her. Anger at Damon for killing himself in the first place, anger with Luke for stopping the spell just a split second before Damon could come through. She picked up a bag and put the shirt in it, taking a couple more from the drawer.

"I know." Ric said calmly.

"I want him dead. As much as I wanted Katherine dead for killing Jeremy I want him dead. Erased from the world entirely." Elena grumbled.

"No you don't." Stefan said. "That's not you. Its the pain talking. Don't let it take over. "

"Cause you're such a good example of that. Do you even leave this house if Caroline doesn't drag you out of here?" She asked angrily.

"Its not the same." Stefan said.

"Yes it is. You're afraid that if you go out there you're going to give in and hurt someone and go down that dark path again."

"Fine guilty as charged." He shrugged "I'm in control though. All I am saying is don't give in to the anger. However you have to go about that is your choice."

"You know what, you're right. It is." She said "I can't do this right now. I can't pick through his things. I'll be back another day to deal with that." Elena promised. "I've got to get out of here." She couldn't stand to be in that room a moment longer. His room yet not. His presence there... yet still a Damon shaped hole very keenly felt.

She ran out the door and down the stairs.

Alaric moved to follow her but Caroline stopped him. "I'll go after her." She promised and headed down the stairs. She paused at the door and watched Elena pull out her cell phone.

"Hey." Elena said.

"Hey."

"You want to go get a drink or something?"

"Sure, " Jace answered, "Are you okay? You sound like you've been crying."

Caroline's eyes widened as she heard the voice through the phone. It had to be the distortion from distance or something. Right?

"I'll explain later. I promise."

"Okay, there's a place over on 3rd that isn't too cautious on checking IDs." Jace suggested.

" Great. I'll meet you there."

Caroline closed the door most of the way and simply watched as her friend got into her car to drive away. She thought about going upstairs to tell the guys what she'd heard. WHO she'd heard, but thought better of it. Stefan wouldn't deal with it well. So instead she sped off to the bar in question, and took up a seat in the back where she could see the entrance. She was beyond worried about Elena.

Alaric had tried to talk to Stefan. They'd never been close friends but they'd been able to talk in the past. Now it seemed that the Damon shaped hole was cutting even that much away. He'd let Stefan push him into taking a memento. It felt a little ghoulish. Like he was picking over Damon's bones. He knew that it wasn't the case but he couldn't help how he felt.

He walked out the door with a book in hand. It was well worn. Read so often that the spine was soft and thread bare. You couldn't even make the title out. Call of the Wild. Apparently his best friend really loved this book. Alaric would give it a good home on his shelves.

But first it landed in the passengers seat of his car, and he drove. It had taken him an hour the week before to make the trip but he got there in almost half the time that night. He parked around the corner and looked at the passengers seat a moment. He grabbed the book on impulse and got out of the car, locking it behind him.

It was earlier than his last visit. She was still on stage. So he took a seat at the back of the bar, ordered bourbon, two glasses and leave the bottle. The book sat on the table daring him to open the cover. Daring him to discover more about his friend. What was his favorite escape... where did he go when he wanted to leave the reality of his unlife.

He sighed and pulled it over in front of him. He vaguely remembered having been required to read it in high school or something but he'd dodged that. Some girl or another had his attention at the time and he'd watched the movie instead.

So he opened it now. With Claire's voice in the back ground slipping into a bluesy rock number, surrounded by the smell of alcohol and old cigarette smoke ( No amount of time and bleach could ever wash that smell from the walls of any bar in business before the public smoking ban) he sipped at his bourbon and let himself read the book, trying to see it through Damon's eyes.

Ric smiled as he continued to read, beginning to see why it was so dear to his friend, he was beginning to see Damon in the pages. He doubted Damon would have consciously seen it though.

"I've had people do all manner of things while I'm singing. Can't say read a book was ever one of them before." She sat down, assuming the other glass was for her, and he didn't tell her otherwise. "So what brings you here tonight?"

Ric smiled a little in spite of himself. "Rough day." He shrugged, and closed the book, well into the third chapter.. "Unless you have better company tonight."

"Can't say that I do." She said picking up the bottle and her glass. "Lets take this party upstairs." She said and indicated to the bartender where the bottle was going.

Elena watched the door, waiting anxiously. She shouldn't have called him. He wasn't the one that she wanted to see. She couldn't help herself though. She missed Damon so much that it was hard to think, to breathe, except when she was with Jace.

She spotted him when he came in the door and waved him over.

Caroline's jaw dropped. "Oh my god!" She covered her mouth with her hands. It wasn't Damon. He didn't move like Damon, certainly didn't look at Elena like Damon... but he definitely looked like Damon. What was her friend up to? this was so not good. Really not good.

Caroline moved in closer to listen in easier. Who was this guy? Was he someone that Elena was using to get over Damon, or was he someone that was using Elena's grief to get to ... something.

"So whats up? You sounded pretty upset on the phone. Are you okay?" Jace asked, taking a seat at the table.

"Long story." Elena said sheepishly.

"Well, I'm here. Not going anywhere. You might as well tell me." Jace said.

"Someone close to me died a few months ago. Tonight we were going through their things, sorting out what to keep and what not. I kinda lost it." Elena admitted.

He reached over and lay his hand over hers. There was no spark of chemistry in his touch. Elena didn't know if she was disappointed or relieved.

"I'm glad you called me. Sorry that you don't have someone closer to talk to about it. " They had just met after all.

"Its not that. Its just that all of my friends were close to him as well so its hard to talk to them. " She pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"Was he sick?" Jace asked.

She shook her head. "No.. he died in the gas explosion in Mystic Falls. He was in the Mystic Grill when it went up."

"I'm so sorry." He said.

The waitress came to take their orders and he ordered a seltzer with lemon, and let her order what ever she liked.

"Don't drink either?" She asked.

"Not currently. " He said.

"Something you don't want to talk about?"

"Not sure to be honest. I'm not an alcoholic or anything like that. " He reassured her.

"okay."

Caroline took a picture with her phone, and wasn't sure what to do with it. She certainly couldn't send it to Stefan. Alaric? No he'd be no better at dealing with this than Stefan. She took a deep breath and held it a moment before pulling up Enzo's number. *We have a problem* she texted and sent the picture to him.

*where are you?*

She sent him the address and name of the club. *Should I watch or go in and defuse this situation.*

*Keep him there for a few minutes. I'll follow him when he leaves.*

*You're not going to kill him are you? looking like Damon isn't a killing offence.* She typed rapidly.

*Now that depends on why he looks like Damon, now doesn't it."

*fine.* she said and put her phone away. She got up and headed toward the table. "Elena." She said. "I was worried about you when you left Stefan's place."

"Caroline." She said, dark eyes wide. "Hi... Ahm... Jace, this is Caroline, Caroline, Jace."

He smiled and offered his hand to her. "Its nice to meet you." He said.

Caroline took his hand. Warm. That was good. Definite heart beat, good. Steady beat...no... not steady. Not the sort of excited heart beat from getting caught at something though. Just not steady. "You too." She said.

"Why don't you join us?" It was an awkward situation, no need to make it more so by chasing the girl off She was obviously worried about Elena who had obviously been very upset earlier. Tracking her down to make sure she was okay made Caroline a good friend in Jace's book.

"Thank you." Caroline said brightly.

Ric was laughing. He was drunk off his ass but he was laughing and It felt good. God it felt good to laugh. He hadn't done a lot of that since coming back. Strangely it was good to talk about Isobel. At least talking about the woman he married anyway. That was the Isobel he wanted to remember. Not the monster she'd become. That hadn't been his wife anymore. They didn't talk about her.

"So who was that girl you used to bring around the university?" He asked. "I can't remember her name, Isobel hated her and I could never figure out why."

"Tasha." Claire said "Yeah, Isobel didn't like her because they were distantly related. It also made her uncomfortable when we kissed in front of her. Not sure if that was a little secret wishful thinking on her part or if she was prejudiced but there it is."

"Oh!" he said. "I had no idea. But then I'm oblivious." He shrugged "As for Isobel, I don't know. She was pretty open minded. then again I thought she was faithful and she was slipping out to meet John Gilbert and Damon. Like I said oblivious."

"I haven't given you the wrong impression have I?" She asked, frowning slightly.

"No" Ric said. "I didn't come here looking for that. You're a beautiful woman, really really beautiful woman, but really, I just come here for the company. Someone my own age that doesn't share my baggage."

"I can be that. " She said relaxing again. Ric didn't have a disingenuous bone in his body. She doubted he could lie with a straight face. What a terrible fate to be turned into a vampire when you couldn't lie your way out of a paper bag with a compass and a map. She wondered how he was going to fare when his mortal lifetime had passed. "But you my friend are one drink shy of either passing out or puking on my carpet so I'm cutting you off and getting you a blanket and pillow. Vampire or not you're not driving like this."

"Yes, Ma'am." He said setting aside the empty glass. It took a moment to figure out which of the tables he was seeing was real. When the glass clattered to the floor he figured he'd chosen poorly. "Sorry."

Claire laughed "Get your shoes off and out of that damned jacket finally. I'll get your bedding." She shook her head as she padded across the floor to the far side of the apartment where she kept the linens. She grabbed the extra pillow from the bed as she passed on the way back. "Well, at least he got the shoes off." Ric was already out cold.

Claire gently lifted his head and placed the pillow underneath, and covered him with the blanket. "you are definitely in need of a guardian angel my friend. Because you are not taking care of business. Business is taking care of you." She stroked his hair almost maternally then turned out the light.

Enzo waited outside the bar until the Damon wanna be exited. He followed at a discreet distance, careful not to be seen. He might have spent the last 70 some odd years in a cage but he'd been a vampire before his capture after all. He knew how to stalk his prey. Being on foot made it easy.

He followed him to a set of apartments on the edge of campus, near the medical school. The building was owned by Augustine. He'd been there more than once while Dr. Gilbert had been in charge. This did not make him happy. In fact it made him very nearly homicidal.

Jace unlocked the door and was about to step inside when Enzo grabbed him.

"Invite me in." He said gruffly. "You really don't want me to break something." It wasn't compulsion. It was good old fashioned coercion. There were no rules about coercion.

"Come in." Jace stammered out, not sure what the hell was going on but he was scared.

Once inside he was shoved further into the apartment by Enzo, who looked him over critically. "Who are you?" He demanded.

"Jace." He said, his mouth had gone dry. "Jace Hamilton." He tried to take a deep breath but couldn't.

Enzo looked at him. Wide eyed, terrified, paler than Damon had ever been. Which was saying something. He scowled and looked him in those wide pale eyes. "Calm down." He compelled. "Tell me the truth." He added. "Why are you here?"

"I live here." Jace answered.

"Why do you live in this particular building?" He clarified in a frustrated tone.

"Its close to the hospital. Dr. Maxfield arranged it before he died."

Enzo saw red. He didn't attack no matter how much he wanted to in that moment. He wanted answers more than he wanted to lash out at everything connected to Augustine. "Why did he do that?"

"I'm in an experimental drug study. To try and make my heart last longer."

"Explain that. In plain English."

"Transplant. " Jace said. "I got mine when I was three. You do the math."

Enzo closed his eyes and listened. he'd be lucky if he made it onto another transplant list before that thing went. "What's your interest in Elena Gilbert?"

"She's a beautiful girl. " He said brow furrowing. "Why? What's your interest in her?" Jace said, frowning. Heart rate increasing.

"She was the girlfriend of a friend of mine. He's dead. I'm looking after her."

"So the person close to her that died was her boyfriend." Jace said. "She didn't tell me that part."

"I'm betting she also didn't tell you that you look exactly like him. " Enzo said. "So, tell me again what your interest is in Elena Gilbert."

He was stunned briefly into silence. Looked just like him? Hadn't she called him by someone else's name when they'd first met? "She's beautiful, friendly, and seemed to need someone to talk to. I'm a guy. I like beautiful, friendly women." he answered, shifting uncomfortably. His heart was still racing.

"What do you know about where your miracle drugs come from?"

"Nothing. Just that there was an experimental program at Whitmore College that had an excellent success rate. I qualified for the program so I'm here."

"I think its time you found out more." Enzo said as his fangs elongated and he bit his wrist.

Jace's blue eyes widened even more and he stumbled backward to get away from the man in front of him.

Enzo grabbed him and forced his wrist into the man's mouth. "This is where your miracles come from. My veins. It's fortunate for you that I have a reason to keep you alive."

Jace sputtered and clawed at the hands holding his head in place. He gagged and nearly choked on the blood as it slid down his throat, the sweet metallic taste threatened to bring everything in his stomach back up. Then the so called miracle happened. He began to breathe easier, the pain in his chest went away completely. His heart was still racing, pounding like a jackhammer in his chest, but it didn't hurt.

"What are you?" He asked stumbling backwards when released and sinking onto his couch.

"Vampire, guinea pig, escapee from hell, the author of your salvation, take your pick." Enzo said with a sardonic smile.

There had been treatments in the hospital that had worked this well. But there had been no word on when the next treatment would be since Dr. Maxfield's accident. Was it because this guy had escaped from their hell? Was that what he was saying? "I don't know if I should thank you or run screaming. I'm leaning toward both."

"Smart man." Enzo said with a chuckle. "Look at me." He said, suddenly completely serious once more. When the younger man didn't look him in the eyes, he grabbed his face and turned it to look at him. "Forget we ever had this conversation. I was never here, you never drank my blood. Oh and try not to get yourself killed in the next 24 hours. " He was gone that instant.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four.

Elena pulled the pillow out from under her head and put it over her face holding it there with both arms.

"Oh no! You do not get to hide from me," Caroline said pulling at the pillow. It took three tries to get it out of Elena's grasp. "First you didn't tell me that there was a Damon-ganger walking around campus. Where Stefan Could See Him." She tossed the pillow aside. "Second you're using that poor guy just because he has that face. Remember how that felt when you were the human pawn because you looked like someone else."

"I'm not using Jace." Elena said defensively."Not... really."

"Really? What exactly does not really mean? Cause when people say not really it really means really, they just don't want to admit it."

Elena's face screwed up and she gave her friend a look that said 'Did you really just say that'. "Okay so I feel better when I'm around him. Is that some terrible crime?"

"Not yet, but it could be." Caroline countered. "You're using him to pretend he's Damon. That's not right."

"I know he's not Damon, Caroline. When was the last time you saw Damon wear jeans that were actually blue and a red tee shirt? when was the last time you saw him in a bar drinking soda water. When was the last time you heard his heart beating? I know its not Damon. I buried Damon remember. I know Jace isn't him."

"Of course you do. That's what makes it worse," Caroline said in frustration. "You're gonna rebound onto this guy, you're going to think you're in love and you're going to pull him into our world. He doesn't deserve that over a pair of blue eyes and nice fitting blue jeans."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Caroline," Elena said angrily as she got out of bed and headed for the shower.

"What do you think Damon did to you?" Caroline asked following her, but standing just outside the door.

"Damon and I fell in love. I'm not some Katherine replacement." She called back out, and turned on the shower, "How can you even imply that?"

"Because its true! Yeah okay you two really were in love at the end but in the beginning when he was psycho stalking you and trying to steal you from Stefan... that was all about Katherine. That's what this is now with Jace. Its all about Damon. Only Jace doesn't know he should be running." She bounced a little as she emphasized her words. " He doesn't know that this is because he has someone else's face. He thinks it's about him. So there isn't going to be that cooling off period to make this real. You're both gonna get hurt and he's going to wind up a vampire alone and angry and go off on a murder spree with Enzo."

"What soap opera are you watching that gives you these idea's Caroline." She said over rushing water. Yay vampire hearing.

"Our lives." Caroline said. "seriously, when has anything ever ended well for either of us in the romance department. Who in our lives has not been affected by blood and death and magic?"

"I'm not romantically interested in Jace, okay. I'm still very much not over Damon."

"Honey, you are never going to be over Damon. We all know that. "

Elena turned off the shower. "You thought I could never be over Stefan." She pointed out mostly to be argumentative.

"That was before I found out that it was a lie created by the travelers." Caroline said. "Look... I just don't want you to be hurt. I don't want anyone else sucked into our crazy lives. And you should have told us. What if Stefan sees him out on the street some day. He is totally not prepared for that."

Elena wrapped in a towel. " How do you suggest I tell him? Oh hey, I saw someone that looks just like Damon. Yeah, sounds like him too. What was that? Where did I meet him, Only on the exact same spot that I met the real Damon the night my parents died."

"That's not an omen. It's not a sign, Elena," Caroline said worriedly.

"I think it is. I think the universe is telling me not to give up. I'm going to get Damon back one day. You'll see."

"And now I'm really worried."

Alaric groaned and nearly rolled off the couch, he caught himself with a hand on the coffee table. "I didn't think vampires could get hangovers," He muttered to himself.

"They do," Claire said as she sat a shot glass full of breakfast on the coffee table. "That should take care of it."

He looked up at her and spotted the bandage on her arm. "You didn't have to do that," He said.

"I take care of my guests but I've got a thing about fangs so" She shrugged, " you get it this way." She motioned for him to drink up. "What? You want hair of the dog in it too?"

"The thought had crossed my mind," He said with a weak grin, but downed the shot. "You really should be on vervain you know."

"Possibly." She said and place a new toothbrush still in the package on the table. "There you go, hit the shower, there's toothpaste, deodorant the whole shebang. You use my razor though, and we're back to that whole Swiss cheese conversation."

He laughed quietly. "Yes ma'am." He said getting up and heading toward the shower as ordered.

Claire made breakfast while he cleaned up. Pancakes and bacon. She looked up as he joined her in the kitchen a few minutes later, looking sheepish, but much more like the Ric she had known in the past.

She set the food on the kitchen Island. "Coffee?"

"Please," he said, pulling up a bar stool. "Thank you for breakfast."

"Like I said, I take care of my guests." She told him sitting down to her own meal.

"I'm sorry I got in a state that I had to be taken care of." It was embarrassing to be out of control.

"Its alright. I think you needed it." Claire told him. "Not sure you need it every night, but last night you did."

"I don't usually get that drunk," Ric told her, as he began to eat.

"You came here looking for a friend. So I'm going to be your friend, Alaric. Friends don't always tell you what you want to hear."

"This going to be one of those suck it up, Buttercup speeches?" He asked with a faint smile.

"Nope, this is the figure it out before you destroy yourself speech. You're an original. " Claire said and took a drink of her coffee. "That means that you're impossible to kill unlike a normal vampire. That means that your life is going to be a long one. Longer than most vamps out there could even dream of. So don't wreck it before you've even gotten started. Work it out."She told him. "Hot, rocking, lesbian witches are hard to come by and ones that dig vampires and put up with their shit are harder still. One day I'm gonna be too old, and the next I'm gonna be gone. Who's going to look out for you then? Figure it out will ya? I won't be able to watch over you from the other side now. I'd hate to go into the hereafter with my idiot friend still not sorted out."

"Trust me, its not so easy when you can watch either." He said. "Can you believe I was the stable one before?" He took a bite of his pancakes "These are good."

"Yeah, I can imagine you being the stable one. That's the Alaric I remember. Funny, sweet, stable. You always did like the ones that were a little off center."

"I think that guy died when Isobel disappeared." Alaric looked at his hands sadly, then picked up his coffee, trying to shake it off.

"If he had you wouldn't have been on my sofa well on your way to an alcohol induced coma. That guy's still alive in there. He's the reason you hurt. Don't drown him in bourbon. Its a hell of a way to go."

"It keeps the cravings down, and truth be told I'm still new to this vampire crap." He said. "Not like the children are up to teaching me."

"yeah, a drink helps. So does a plate of nachos, or meditation. You don't have to down the whole bottle every time you fill a glass. You'll get there. It might be a couple of years and you might support the whole of Kentucky's economy all on your own in that time, but you'll get there. If you want it."

"What I want is my friend back."

"I know." She said. "I know."

Jeremy borrowed Matt's truck. He didn't tell his friend what he was up to, didn't think he'd understand. Matt liked the idea of being safe, of being able to pretend the past had never happened. Jeremy didn't. Then again, Jeremy wasn't exactly a normal guy outside the boundaries of Mystic Falls.

Not that he defined himself by being a was kind of inconvenient truth be told. Especially when his sister was a vampire and the happy thoughts that kept him from wanting to kill her and everyone else they knew with fangs were gone along with the woman who gave them to him.

There were still travelers in Mystic Falls. He knew that. He didn't know how he knew it, but he did. Travelers held the key to sorting this whole mess out. Turning Mystic Falls back into their home, bringing Bonnie back from the hereafter. If any one or anything had the answers it was the travelers.

He drove the streets of Mystic falls slowly, looking for tell tale signs. Hunting the way he would have instinctively hunted vampires if he were on the outside of that invisible barrier surrounding the town. The strength and the desire to kill were gone, but the instincts were still there. Some of them came from before he'd become a hunter. Some were there because a very different type of hunter had taught him, some because he'd been surrounded by magic and death his entire life.

He'd been doing this for weeks now, and was beginning to think he was going about it the wrong way, when he spotted him. It was a bare glimpse. A face in a hoodie. A burn scarred face. He parked the truck and took the pistol out of the glove box before getting out. He kept his distance and followed. He wouldn't be able to make a move until later, but he could follow him. He might lead Jeremy to more.

Jace felt good when he woke that morning. He hadn't felt this good in months. He took his morning regimen of pills and made a face as the last of them went down. He headed out his front door and unlocked his bike from the rack and went to put it on the back of his car.

He paused a moment and took out his phone, dialing Elena's number."Hey," He said smiling at the sound of her voice.

"Hey," She responded.

"How are you this morning? Better I hope." He leaned against his car, not seeing the man in the shadows, keeping watch.

"Yeah, actually I am. I'm sorry you got sucked into my drama."

"That's what friends do." He said. "Anyway, I'm going for another bike ride today. Want to come along?"

"I can't remember the last time I was on a bike. I think I was still wearing braces. How about a hike instead. I know all the good trails around the falls."

"Elena!" Caroline exclaimed in the back ground.

"Oooh. I'm betting I didn't make a good impression last night," He said laughing self consciously.

"Its not that. She's just convinced I'm rebounding which I'm not," She said

"If you'd rather go hiking I'm up for it. Want me to pick you up?" He asked. He didn't want to press the rebound issue. He figured he wouldn't like the answer he got if he did.

"Sure. " She told him the name of her Dormitory. "Give me half an hour."

"Alright. I'll bring a caffeine and sugar overdose for you," He said laughing.

"See you then." She hung up the phone and put it back in her pocket.

"Are you crazy? Did you not hear a single word I said?" Caroline demanded.

"Yes, Caroline I heard you. that doesn't make me obligated to agree with you or to let you pick who I spend time with. I'm going hiking with a friend. That's all it is. "

"A friend that looks like the guy you're mourning."

"Butt out." Elena said firmly. "I seriously need you to butt out. I think its wonderful that you're helping Stefan. He would lock himself away in that house and grieve for years if you weren't there. But I'm not Stefan. "

"I'm not even sure you're Elena anymore."

"Maybe I'm not. Maybe I've lost so much over these last few years that I don't want to be who I was anymore. Maybe I want to be happy and do normal things like hiking and coffee dates with friends who don't know Elena Gilbert, the Salvatore's special little snowflake."

"I love that snowflake," Caroline said a little sadly.

"And you'll love who I choose to be now." Elena said going to the closet to dig out her hiking boots. "Just let me deal with this how I need to deal with it. If going hiking with Jace is the worst thing I do today, its a good day."

"Whatever." Caroline said throwing her hands up in the air. She left their dorm room and went quickly downstairs and outside before pulling out her phone to call Enzo.

"Busy at the moment." He said into the phone, watching Jace put the bike back on the rack and lock it in place.

"I don't care." Caroline said. "Elena is completely out of control where this guy is concerned and crazy Elena trumps busy Enzo. What did you find out about him?"

"Still working on that."

"What does that mean? you followed him last night didn't you find anything out then?"

"It means I'm looking right at him, Princess," Enzo said. "So unless you'd rather talk about him than actually let me figure out where he's going, I'm going to hang up now."

"I know where he's going. He's taking Elena hiking around Mystic Falls." She said.

"That'll be a rather short and disastrous trip I should think."

"Not the town, the falls."She rolled her eyes.

"Yes I suppose that would have a different outcome." He said. "In that case, I'm going to go in for a little snooping."

"What? You got invited in? That is so not fair." Caroline grumbled. She wanted in on that particular action.

"I would think you'd have bigger fish to fry. Maybe getting one of your little human friends to run interference on the potential love birds, or explaining to your boyfriend that he might be seeing a hauntingly familiar face around campus."

"He's not my boyfriend," She said.

"Whatever you say, Princess," Enzo said and ended the call.

Stefan opened the door and nodded. "Liv," He said standing aside to let her enter. "I'm glad you could come."

"You didn't exactly give me a choice, " She said "You can call off the dogs. "

"We'll see." Stefan closed the door behind her.

"I'm here. I'll do what you want. Just call them off my brother."

"Your brother cost me mine, " Stefan said. "Its going to take more than just showing up to get me to let go."

"Fine. I don't know if it will work or not. I've only ever done this with the other side and we both know that doesn't exist any more." She said taking her bag over to the coffee table.

"I need to know where he is. Whether he's at peace or if he ... " He nearly choked.

"Really? Cause I met your brother. I doubt you really want to know where he ended up," Liv said.

"Damon died sacrificing himself for others. that has to count for something." He said indicating that she should start setting up.

"I can't guarantee that this will work. I've never done this before. I told you that already," She said taking out the silver bowl, bottle of water and some ink.

"There's a first time for everything." He said. "And if you don't succeed, you'll keep looking until you find a way."

"I thought Damon was the rotten brother. Guess I was wrong," Liv said pulling out candles and incense.

"A lot of people make that mistake. Probably because I'm the nice brother." Stefan said. He didn't cross the line often but when he did,well, he'd learned from the best. Katherine, Klaus, Elijah. He'd learned how to be the better villain, and with any luck he'd learned to be the smarter one too. Damon had tried hard enough to pound that into his head not so many years ago.

"I'll need something of his, " She said, not looking at Stefan at all. The man had saved her brother's life, and now he was threatening it. A girl could get whiplash trying to sort out who was wearing what color hat these days. Freaking Vampires.

"Is it going to be destroyed?" He asked. When she shook her head he pulled out Damon's daylight ring and handed it to her.

She began to chant. She was still recovering from the spell to open the pathway from the other side, even all these months later. She might have survived a few more seconds, long enough to bring Damon through from the other side, or she might have been a vegetable from the damage it was doing to her didn't know, and neither had her brother. It still hurt to do major magic.

She held the ring in her left hand as she chanted not really seeing the world around her any longer. The water in the bowl swirled around complicated images of people Stefan didn't recognize. With her right she poured the herb infused ink into the water, one drop at a time until the image cleared and revealed the spirits she was looking for.

The surroundings were hard to make out. Stefan saw Damon, he appeared to be climbing something, winds were buffeting him as one hand hung tightly to the rock and the other was held down lower, clasping Bonnie's hand, pulling her up after him. The dark ink in the water made everything look bleak and dismal. They reached the top of whatever it was they were climbing and his brother sank to the ground.

"Damon!" Stefan said and was sure that his brother turned his head looking for him. "Can you hear me?"

It looked as though Damon was mouthing his name, and his hands went to his head as if suddenly in pain. Bonnie rushed to his side. The waters ceased moving. The ink settled to the bottom of the bowl. It wasn't until Damon's ring hit the floor that Stefan realized the images were gone and so was the connection to his brother. He looked to Liv, just as she too dropped to the floor in unconsciousness.

Stefan moved to her side and checked her pulse before opening the vein in his wrist and giving her his blood.

Damon lay back against the cool grass as the pain ceased trying to rip his head apart. "Haven't felt that in a while," He said, breathing deeply. He looked over at Bonnie, squinting his eyes against the sun that shone behind her. "Not up to your old witchy tricks are you?" he teased.

Bonnie laughed. "No. You're safe from me. What happened?" She asked positioning herself to shade his eyes from the sun.

"I don't know. I could have sworn I heard Stefan calling my name. If he's gone and gotten himself killed after all we went through to get him back there, I'm gonna kill him myself."

Again Bonnie laughed. "Not here you won't."

"Yeah I suppose you're right," He said sitting up and looking around them. "You were definitely right about this view. the climb was worth it."


	5. Chapter 5

Elena shook her head laughing. "I cannot believe that you didn't wear hiking boots, " She said as she supported Jace's weight. His ankle was swollen and she was pretty sure if they took his shoe off he wasn't getting it back on that foot for days to come. "Lucky for you I'm from around here and I know just the place to go to get you off this foot for a while."

"Taking me into the ghost town of Mystic Falls?" He asked.

"No," She said. "I- I don't go there anymore. "

"Because of the explosion. Yeah I'm an idiot. I didn't think."

"Its not like I have a normal reaction to it. Its not your fault." Elena walked him over to the passengers side door and held her hand out for his keys. "You're not driving with that foot like that."

He frowned. "I have never let anyone else drive my car. So... take it as a sign of supreme trust." He handed over the keys. It wasn't a classic car, it wasn't even an expensive car. It was just a car. But it was his car. You took control where you could in life. Especially when life seemed intent on taking as much control away from you as possible.

"Thank you," She said unlocking the doors with the key fob and helping him get settled into the passengers seat.

"So where are we going?" He asked as he buckled up and leaned back in the seat.

"My family has a house at the lake.,She said. It was the place that she and Jeremy could do family get-togethers and still feel like there was part of their lives represented there. Like there was a connection to their parents still.

"Sounds fun," He said and watched the scenery pass by. "Its beautiful here. Are there any of the old plantation houses still standing?"

"No, there are ruins of two of them though. Both were burned to the ground in 1864," She said and repeated the story that she knew was a lie. The one about Union soldiers burning down the church with civilians inside. "The fires spread over the next day. It took out a lot of property. "

"That's kind of horrific," He said. "There were a couple of family names that came up in my research of the area. Lockwood, and Salvatore. " He frowned seeing the look on her face. A deer in the headlights of an on coming car wouldn't look more frozen. "Did I step in it again?"

"Just... I'll explain it all later. I promise. I'll make us tea or something and we'll talk while you have that thing elevated." She glanced over briefly. "You do drink tea don't you? I have herbal."

He smiled a little "Herbal tea is fine." Jace took a breath and sighed. "I've got this ... thing... going on with my heart." He told her. "I had a transplant when I was little and its getting close to the time I'm gonna have to go on the waiting list again. So I'm just being extra careful. No caffeine, low sodium, low potassium, no alcohol. Believe me I would just about kill for a cheeseburger and a beer right now." he laughed. "But I'll be fine with herbal tea."

"Wow... was hiking even a good idea? " she asked pulling into the driveway. "My father was a doctor but the extent of my medical knowledge is how to wrap an ace bandage and that I should put neosporin on a cut when I put a bandaid on. So you'll have to let me know if there's anything I need to do."

"You don't have to do anything," He told her. This was the part he hated about telling he was made of spun glass and needed to be covered in cotton batting. "I've been looking out for myself for a long time. Just take me at my word if I need to stop or for that matter if I don't. I'm basically a healthy guy. Its just that my warranty has run out and I'm being extra careful until the new parts arrive. That's all." As long as he didn't end up in a situation that could put undue stress on his heart he'd be fine.

She nodded. "okay. I won't suddenly turn into Caroline and start hovering." She smiled a little. "But you gotta be careful about those outdated warranties. Next thing you know its the carburetor and the transmission. "

He laughed then. "Have you ever even driven a car with a carburetor? Do they even make those anymore?"

"No but I have friends with really old cars. " had... the car was gone too. She kept smiling as she pulled onto the private road that lead to the house. "And this is it." She said when she'd reached the house. "So." She said parking the car and turning off the engine. "Like I said I'm gonna explain everything when we get settled inside. All I ask is that you hear me out and don't get too mad at me."

"Cause that's not ominous or anything," He said, and the tone hit her. It was exactly how Damon would have said it, that hint of uncertainty buried in sarcasm.

"Its not terrible... I-I don't think its terrible anyway," Elena said. Maybe bringing him here had been a mistake.

"Let me guess. Caroline does." He said.

"Yeah," Elena said "So before someone gets it into their head to tell you all about it I thought maybe I should do it first. Although to be honest I hadn't thought about it involving ice packs and tylenol."

He nodded and looked over at her. Somehow he knew he was about to get the lets just be friends speech. He'd hoped to get the first actual date in before she shot him down. Probably just as well. "Its a nice place." He said and opened his door. Guys like him didn't get the girls with lake houses and private college educations... with doctors for fathers. He could just imagine the meet the parents trip. Where do your people come from? Why did they always put it that way? Made you sound like a foreigner. Well my people come from the wrong side of Atlanta. The one without country clubs and the sound of gunfire is as common as crickets..

Elena was out of the car quickly and at his side to support his weight. "We don't know how bad it is, best to keep as much weight as possible off of it. "

He slipped his arm over her shoulder and let her help him inside. It was as nice inside as out, not that he saw much as he was shuffled over to the sofa and settled there with a pillow under the injured foot.

Elena sat down on the edge of the sofa and untied the shoe, slowly working it off his foot, then the sock followed. "ouch." She said looking at all the bruising.

"Yeah, don't worry about the bruising too much. It happens." Blood thinners did that to you. Which of course always made things look worse than they were.

"Yeah, well the swelling isn't too great either." She said. "You stay here. I'll get that ice pack and start the tea. We're gonna want to bring that swelling down before we wrap it. At least I think we do." She smiled a little sheepishly as she went to the kitchen.

Stefan picked up his cell phone and dialed Rebekah

"Did the witch give you what you wanted?" She asked.

"So far." Stefan said,"Can you keep the other one for another day?" He asked.

"What? No! I did what you asked." Liv said.

Stefan looked at her. "You will go home, You will not take any vervain. You will come back here tomorrow at the same time you came here today. Then I will let my friend know that she can release your brother to come back here."

"Its never going to be over is it." She asked, pressing a hand to her forehead trying to keep calm.

"Of course it will. When I get my brother back"

"I'll do what you want. I don't have a choice. But I'm telling you now I can't bring him back. Its not possible. "

"Sure it is, you're just going to have to look for the way to make possible." Stefan said. "Again, thank you, my friend, " He said into the phone.

"I hope you mean that this time. I'd hate to lose my patience with you." Rebekah said. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, then I'll send him back to you, humble and obedient."

"I'll talk to you then." Stefan said.

It had been a comfortable morning. Once the hangover had faded anyway. Claire had promised to look for a white magic solution to the Damon problem if Ric would promise to start living. Fortunately for Ric she considered sitting quietly at a friends house, reading a book to be living. He looked at his watch, then set the book aside, pulling out his cell phone. Elena had been in a ` rough place yesterday. He should have been looking out for her instead of drowning his own sorrows. He felt like a heel for that.

He dialed her number and waited.

"Hey, Ric." Elena said into the phone as she placed a towel wrapped bag of frozen peas on Jace's ankle. "Are you okay?"

He laughed quietly. "That was going to be my line. I'm sorry I didn't ... I wasn't strong enough to support you yesterday when you needed me to."

"I completely understand," She said, giving Jace a smile as she headed back into the kitchen. "It was hard on all of us yesterday. You didn't answer my question though, are you okay?" She set two mugs on the counter and pulled down the herbal tea.

"I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me." He said.

"I remember how hard it was on you when Jenna died." Elena said. "So yeah, I do have to worry about you." She made a small cut in one of her fingers and let it drip into one of the mugs. "Damon was your best friend. He was like a brother."

"One thing he wasn't was the love of my life." Ric said. "What are you up to today?"

She took a deep breath. "I'm at the lake house today."

"That's good. Time to yourself can be good. Are you going to see Jeremy while you're down there?"

"I don't know." She said and propped her phone up on her shoulder when the tea kettle began to whistle. She poured the water and stirred in the sugar. "Should I? Is everything okay?"

"I don't know," Ric said. "He's been avoiding me lately. Probably afraid I'll tell him to get his ass back in school."

"If you don't I will," Elena said.

"Let me know when you want to have that little intervention and we'll set up a family dinner or something," Ric said in all seriousness

"If we can get him out of Mystic Falls long enough to do that," Elena said. "I'm glad you called, and when I get back to Whitmore I'd like to talk. Just the two of us. But right now I'm gonna go." She took her phone back in hand and looked over her shoulder at Jace. Ric was not going to like this at all.

"Alright. Call me when you get back into town."

"I will. I promise." She said. "I'll talk to you then."

"Be careful," Ric said. he didn't know what prompted it, something in the air, something he'd been feeling since the night before but had been too caught up in his own drama to process it. "Just a feeling I have."

"Trouble coming our way? Must be a day ending in y." She said. "Love you. Talk to you tonight." She hung up.

"Everything alright?" Jace asked as she set the tea down on the table and sat on the edge of the sofa.

"Yeah, that was Ric. Alaric Saltzman, the history teacher I told you about. He was worried about me after last night." She picked up the ace bandage she'd brought in earlier. She wanted to get his ankle wrapped up before he got the blood in his system. Swelling going down could be explained. Sudden lack of bruising was more difficult if he watched it going away.

Jace winced as she worked. "Sounds like people care about you. Not surprising. That's good though."

"What about you?" She asked. "You have people worried about you?"

"A few," He said. "I don't have a lot of family. A couple foster brothers that still think they have to beat up the school bully." He said rolling his eyes. "But they're back in Atlanta along with friends." He had a few. He liked to keep to himself really. Preferring one or two good friends to a bus load of acquaintances.

"Did your parents take in foster kids?" she asked as she finished wrapping the bandage like a pro.

"Ah.. no. I was the foster kid," He said "Don't get that look. It was fine. I was one of the lucky ones that landed with one family and stayed there. Which is pretty amazing since I was considered special needs what with the heart transplant and all." He shrugged. "It wasn't a hallmark channel kind of life but neither was it a law and order SVU episode. "

She laughed a little at that. One more major difference between Jace and Damon. Damon wouldn't have gotten the references since he didn't watch television.

He laughed as well. "What can I say, a lot of time spent in a hospital bed with nothing to do but watch cable. "

"I thought heart transplants were sort of a once its done its done kind of thing."

"It usually is but I got into this special program at Whitmore, it was the only way anyone could afford it all really. Part of that deal was they get to monitor my progress and keep tabs on how its doing. Besides I have to come back in for regular biopsies and stuff to make sure there's no rejection. Basically a lot of sound and fury."

"Signifying nothing," Elena completed, "and now the warranty has run out." a special program at Whitmore. That did not bode well. Nothing involving Whitmore that went beyond getting an education was good. Or maybe she was just biased.

"They want to keep a closer watch on things until it actually gets to be a problem." Jace said. "So I have an apartment, living expenses paid, and access to the genealogy library. I could go to school there if I wanted but what can I say. I'm loyal to Georgia State."

"I'm surprised they didn't set you up with a scholarship to Whitmore if you were so involved in one of their medical studies."

"They tried. I'm stubborn." He shrugged. "I didn't want to be controlled all the time and that's what it felt like. Come be under our thumb all the time so we can monitor everything." He rolled his eyes. "I'd had enough of that with the state." He shrugged. "So am I completely scandalous?" He asked grinning.

"No," she said with a smile and handed him the bottle of Tylenol. "you can have tylenol can't you?"

He laughed "Yes I can have tylenol." He told her as he took two from the bottle and downed them dry. "no hovering remember."

"You're wounded. I get to hover."

Enzo walked into the coffee shop and tossed the file folder down onto the table in front of Caroline. "Nothing is ever simple with you people is it." He said sitting down.

She scowled at him and picked up the file "What is all of this?" She asked flipping through the papers.

"Medical records for Jace Hamilton. " He said. "That's only the most recent folder. Apparently he's been a patient off and on at the university hospital since he was three. All on Augustine's dime."

"What?" Caroline's eyes widened. "Is he from one of their families?"

"Hard to say. Heart transplant for some sort of congenital disease. He's in here a couple times a year for tests and check ups. Apparently these things don't last forever. Westfield was trying to find a way to extend the time before the next transplant."

"Using you to do it." Caroline said, feeling sympathetic for a moment, then it faded. "Its not his fault, so you don't get to go and kill him on general principles. "

"Why does everyone always assume that I'm going to go murder someone?"

She gave him the patented Caroline Forbes 'Really?' look.

"They were using him as much as they were me. Not gonna kill a guy for being a guinea pig." He said with a shrug. "Not sure I'd have to anyway. Aaron Whitmore turned off the funding for Augustine, and Damon turned off Wes. Jace isn't going to be getting any more fancy treatments so who knows how things will turn out. I thought he was going to check out last night when his heart got to racing." He rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that look. I didn't know he had a weak ticker when I revealed myself. He's fine. I gave him a booster." Another look from Caroline.

"Is it possible for me to do anything right?"

Caroline sighed. "Fine, okay, I guess." She shook her head. "What if the Whitmore estate isn't the only place they were getting funding. All of those families involved in the society I can't imagine they didn't donate money, or have fund raisers. Programs like this would get a lot of publicity and support for the college."

"If that's the case then Augustine isn't dead, its just gone underground." Enzo said. "He did say that Wes had arranged for him to have his apartment while he was in town. Someone has to be paying the bills."

"We need to find out who that is." Caroline said with a nod.

And when they did, Enzo would complete Damon's mission for him. The guy was dead. He could start to forgive him for Maggie now.


End file.
